Share this page?
SMART InsideOut
InsideOut™is a psycho-educational group work programme, delivered within our partner organisations. It provides supervised offenders with a solid grounding in SMART Recovery and a hands-on experience of mutual aid. The approach is therapeutic but puts emphasis on learning SMART tools and skills, allowing their use for long-term support within peer led SMART Recovery meetings.
The Programme is a more ‘rounded’ approach than many other addictions focused psycho-social programmes used in prison, covering everything from motivation through to living a balanced life.
InsideOut™ is designed to be led by prison officers, probation officers, drug workers, education staff or other professionals who have some experience of group-work and have completed the UK SMART Recovery Facilitator Training.
The Programme aims to support recovery from addiction, though it adds a specific focus on criminal thinking errors and the anti-social behaviours that are often glorified by offenders – dealing drugs, stealing, fighting, using guns and manipulating people through power and intimidation. This focus is entirely consistent with the SMART emphasis on accurate thinking and building a well-rounded and ‘pro-social’ lifestyle.
Designed to correct thinking errors that lead to poor self-control, addictive behaviour and criminal behaviour. Criminal thinking errors may be exacerbated by impaired problem solving, improper goal setting, lack of empathy, poor social perspective taking, egocentricity, rigid thinking, lack of critical thinking and impulsiveness.
Cognitive Behaviour methods teach offenders to challenge their own antisocial thought patterns by incremental insights that these ways of thinking are counter to their own long term interests. Tools focused on well-being and therapeutic lifestyle change encourage a more balanced lifestyle that is more rewarding in the longer term compared to addictive and criminal behaviours.
The mutual aid approach aims to build a social sub-group of the supervised population who reinforce each other’s commitment to a recovery focused lifestyle. This enables a healthier relationship with staff and encourages participants to ‘own’ their recovery journey.
Military SMART
Help with addictions and addictive behaviours is available, however, military personnel, for many different reasons often find engagement with civilian services problematic.
“Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services.” (Military Covenant)
Military SMART has been created as an extension to the popular UK SMART Recovery Program. Working in partnership with military welfare units and treatment agencies across the country, we aim to make the SMART form of mutual-aid far more accessible to our military personnel.
Start SMART
Currently being piloted in select organisations across the UK… Teen SMART is a self-help support programme, facilitated by qualified adults, which offers a place for young people to get together to try to think about and change their behaviours.
Contact us for more information.